When it Snows in Wyoming; you know its Spring!

It seems like it's been f-o-r-e-v-e-r since the sun has shone but I really think it's been more like a week.  We've had snow almost every day since then.

Wet and Muddy April 24

Deeper and Muddier April 26

April 27th and MORE snow.  This is a view of our old barn on the hill in the pasture.

On the 28th, the snow has melted to about an elevation of 5,000' -- you can see the snow line in this picture.  This is called Pine Ridge.  We live on Pine Ridge so we got snow not rain.  (our elevation is 5,500')   Yep we live in that white zone.................

On the 29th it warmed it a tad so it melted as it snowed and ditto for today, the 30th.  We still have patches of snow, but it's warmer by a few degrees.  Not warm enough for grass to grow well.  We need sunshine for that and warmer temps.   Sure to be just around the corner.   I mean tomorrow is MAY!!!

The moisture was needed so it's welcome.   In our neck of the woods,  it isn't spring showers that bring May flowers ---it's usually SNOW.

This all started at the end of March when it dumped big time on the mountain---like FEET of snow.  Up to then it had been very dry and not near the normal amount of snow we receive every winter.  I was beginning to wonder if drought wasn't returning!

Here's our mountain lot on the 31st of March when #1 Son and daughter-in-law skiied in to see if there was any damage.

I think they said they had 3 feet of snow on the Mountain when this picture was taken.  It's at least that deep around our trailer in this picture.

The wild flowers will be spectacular this year.   I love seeing fields of lupine on the mountain. It always reminds of what I hear about the bluebells in Texas.   

They were about at the end of their bloom stage when I took this picture but this is lupine that was blooming in the front of the trailer in the above picture.  They will cover that whole hillside and their color should be intense this year with all that water!

May snow come in April and Flowers in June in your neck of the woods!

Fun with Genealogy DNA

or Grandpa Dick and Grandma Jane may not have been who you thought they were.....

One of the big questions in our family genealogy search has always been if there was native americans in our ancestors.   My husband's mother distinctly relayed on numerous occasions, the tale of the "Indian Princess" who was adopted into the family.  In my own family, my grandfather who descended from French Canadian Fur Trappers, told me there were native american ancestors.  Given the bloodline, I thought it was true.

Joseph Maxime DeSotels (1834 - 1927) the last DeSotel ancestor born in Longue Point, Montreal, Quebec Canada.  Does he look part Native American?  That was the question.........my gr great grandfather.

Burley Austin Dye (1893-1988)  my husband's grandfather who was a descendant of the "Indian" Princess.   Does he look part Native American?   That was the question....................

We decided for Christmas for ourselves we would buy each other a Ancestry.com DNA test.  Both of our kids were pretty excited to see the results.

And the results were:

Hubby -- NO trace of Native American ancestry.   Busted myth of the Indian Princess.

Me -- NO trace of Native American ancestry.  What?  My line of DeSotels have been in North America since the mid 1650's and were fur trappers....

It would appear that every generation I trace back on the DeSotels, I am descended from a French Canadian wife right back to Catherine Lorian Dit la Pointe DeSautels in the 1600's.   No native wives.  Quite the surprise

For Hubby, obviously there was no adoption of a native american girl and the princess myth is totally untrue.  How did that rumor come to be????   And where did the family features come from in the Dye family line -- men who were tall, dark haired and did not go gray nor bald in old age.  Faces that aged and looked native american. My husband is often asked how much native american blood he has when he goes to a public function.

Turned out the Dye family has been in North America since the founding of New Amsterdam (now New York City) in the 1600's.  And the physical features we had attributed to Native American ancestors were in fact, probably Dutch.

One of the interesting things dug out of Ancestry.com was that the first Dye (then Duyts) was a "Great Foot" Hans Lauren Duyt who was called that due to his stature and foot size.  Apparently a big guy and also not very nice.   He was banned from New Amsterdam and had his left ear cut off for selling his wife!!!

Was I satisfied with my subscription to Ancestry.com.  Yes.  However you must use the data with a caution.  A lot of people have errors and it's easy to copy and pass along those errors.

Was I satisfied with the DNA tests.  Yes, up to a point.  Don't expect detailed information from this.   You will get a generic area from where you descended like Northern Europe, Spain, Southern France, Etc.  So if you expect what you get, it's okay.

Am I glad I did it?  Absolutely.   Warning - it's addictive!

Happy Genealogy Hunting!